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Tag Archives: DMV

27 Sep

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News Press Release

Governor Newsom Signs AB 1374 to Improve DMV Organ Registration Language, Increasing Donors

New Law Strengthens California Department of Motor Vehicles and Donate Life California Partnership

SACRAMENTO, CA, September 22, 2021 – AB 1374 was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom. Sponsored by Assemblymember Kevin Mullin (D-22), AB 1374 is a critical step in the effort to increase the number of registered organ donors in California. The new law creates a pathway to amend the language of the DMV donor registration, in the hopes of encouraging more Californians to say “yes” to organ, eye and tissue donation.
California has the longest transplant waiting list in the country, with more than 20,000 patients currently in need of a lifesaving organ. The partnership between the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and Donate Life California is key to saving lives. Since 2005, the DMV has accounted for more than 95% of the 17.5 million registrations to the Donate Life California organ and tissue registry. Leaders from both organizations hailed the new law as an important turning point.
“We have long enjoyed our partnership with Donate Life California. Our joint efforts have saved many lives,” said Kathleen Webb, DMV Chief Deputy Director. “We look forward to more success registering organ, eye and tissue donors with this new agreement in place.”
“Since the creation of the Donate Life California registry, Californians have taken even greater strides to help save the lives of thousands,” stated Jim Martin, Chief Executive Officer of Donate Life California. “Every Californian has the power to make a difference when they sign up to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor, and we hope our simplified partnership with the DMV helps Californians to understand the importance of that decision.”
“OPOs are proud of their work with Donate Life California and the DMV to pass AB 1374 and increase organ donation,” said Tom Mone, Chair of Donate Life California’s Board of Directors and CEO of OneLegacy, Southern California’s OPO or Organ Procurement Organization. “Our work as OPOs starts with collaboration with all 334 California hospitals who refer potential donors, then by supporting families and donors who choose to leave a life-saving legacy, medically assessing and treating every donor to maximize the number of lives saved and making sure that life-saving organs get to the patients with the greatest need. This cannot happen without advocating for these patients by supporting legislation like AB 1374 and educating communities on the importance of registration, as well as investing in science that improves transplantation, all to fulfill our commitment to advance solutions that save more lives.”
Facts about donation
• In 2020, organ and tissue donors in California saved more than 4,500 lives and improved the quality of life for hundreds of thousands more.
• 18 people across the country die each day awaiting lifesaving organ transplants.
• Approximately 20,000 people in California need a lifesaving organ transplant — approximately 19% of the national transplant waiting list.
About Donate Life California:
Donate Life California is the nonprofit, state-authorized organ, eye and tissue donor registry. As a public service, the registry assures that all personal information is kept confidential and stored in a secure database, accessible only to authorized organ and tissue recovery personnel at the time of an actual donation opportunity. The registry is administered by Donate Life California and California’s four nonprofit, federally designated organ recovery organizations: Donor Network West, Lifesharing, OneLegacy and Sierra Donor Services. For more information about Donate Life California, please visit www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org or in Spanish at www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org.
Please visit Donate Life California’s Stories of Hope web page to read inspiring stories about organ and tissue donors and recipients from around the state.

Contact:
Lacey Wood
Donate Life California
(530) 308-7046 (cell) | (916) 678-6006 (office)
lacey@donateLIFEcalifornia.org

26 Oct

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Frequently Asked Questions

Everything You Need to Know About the Organ Donation Process

For many, the organ and tissue donation process may be one they are completely unfamiliar with, even if they are registered donors. Many misunderstandings and myths about how organs and tissue are recovered have been shared throughout social media and even been perpetrated on television for several decades. Today, we want to give you a quick rundown on how the process actually works.

Registering as a Donor

The first step is registering to be an organ and tissue donor! For decades, Donate Life California has worked with the California Department of Motor Vehicles to register donors throughout the state. Anyone can register as a donor at the DMV when they go in to apply for or renew a California Driver’s License or identification card.

DMV To-Do List

On your license or ID application or renewal form, you will be asked if you would like to be registered as an organ or tissue donor. Simply check the box marked “YES! I want to be an organ, eye and tissue donor” and you will be put on the Donate Life California Donor Registry. Additionally, if you don’t find yourself at a DMV anytime soon and want to register as a donor at your own convenience, you can register on our website here.

You also have the ability to remove yourself from the registry at any point by contacting Donate Life California.

The Organ Donation Process

One of the most common myths out there regarding organ donation is that emergency medical personnel will not attempt to save your life if they see you are an organ and tissue donor. This is false. Whether someone is in a hospital or at the scene of an accident, every effort is made to save your life. Organ donation is not even discussed during these life-saving procedures. Medical professionals, such as doctors, have taken oaths to do no harm and that includes placing anything, including donation, above saving a patient’s life.

Only after all lifesaving procedures have been exhausted does the next step in the process take place – the referral of a potential donor. This only happens when an individual is declared brain dead by two different doctors unrelated to the transplant process. Alternatively, the referral process can also begin when the family of the deceased takes them off mechanical support. Only then do hospitals refer the patient to the local organ procurement organization (OPO) to begin a conversation about donation.

After a potential donor is referred, medical staff from the OPO begin to evaluate the deceased to determine if they are a suitable candidate for donation. Once this review is completed, the OPO staff will speak to the family if the deceased individual is eligible to be a donor.

1 organ donor can save 8 lives.

Once the potential donor has been evaluated, the family is then notified if their loved one had registered to be an organ donor. If no decision had been made beforehand, the individual’s family then decides whether to move forward with the donation process or not. We always recommend sharing your decision on donation with your family so that they are aware of your wishes.

It is at this point, once consent is granted by the donor’s family or by the individual through the Donate Life California Registry, that the organ and tissue recovery can take place. The donor’s family is given a chance to say goodbye to their loved one and any additional testing would also occur at this step. When any organs and tissue are then recovered, the United Network for Organ Sharing finds a suitable match for someone on the organ and tissue transplant waiting list.

After the recovery procedure is finished, the OPO returns the body to the family. The donor’s family can then proceed with any funeral arrangement they had planned, be it open casket or cremation. Our OPOs will ensure that the organ and tissue recovery process will not interfere with your after-death plans.

We hope that this has been informative enough and cleared up any questions you may have had about the organ donation process! If you have any additional questions, please visit our website at www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org for additional information.

Proud to be an organ donor.

26 Sep

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News

Celebrating DMV Appreciation Week in California

While all of us at Donate Life California are thankful for the work the California Department of Motor Vehicles does each and every day, this week the Donate Life community is celebrating DMV Appreciation Week across the nation.

Each year, the California DMV is registering hundreds of thousands of new organ and tissue donors, making up over 95% of the donors in our registry. Without our decades-long partnership with the DMV, we’d have been unable to grow the largest registry in the country.

Saving Thousands of Lives Each Year

While a pink dot might not seem like it changes lives, the numbers are clear. Since the creation of the registry in 2006, over 43,938 individuals have received lifesaving transplants in California. There is no question that all of our recipients are sharing their DMV appreciation around the state this week.

This year over 2,700 individuals have already had their lives changed by receiving transplants. This work wouldn’t be possible without the efforts that staff around the state at our DMV put in each day.

Supporting Donate Life All Year Long

Our DMV partners are supporting organ, eye and tissue donation all year long. Their passion to share the impact of donation doesn’t go unnoticed by all of us at Donate Life California.

Whether they are supporting Donate Life on Blue & Green Day, helping to decorate the Donate Life Rose Parade Float, or signing up donors each day their passion makes all the difference. So during DMV Appreciation Week, we want to say a huge THANK YOU!

Donate Life Rose Parade Float California DMV Collaboration

Over 40 Years of Partnership

The California DMV’s passion for supporting organ, eye and tissue donation isn’t anything new. They’ve been helping to increase donation for over four decades. It all started with the pink dot and continues today through the largest registry of organ, eye and tissue donors in the country.

With all the hard work of our DMV partners, the California Organ and Tissue Registry will reach more than 15 million registered donors before the end of 2018. This is an outstanding milestone and we can’t say thank you enough to show our DMV appreciation.

Saying Thank You During DMV Appreciation Week

This week ambassadors and staff around the state from our local OPOs sent thank you notes to their local DMV offices and you can check out a handful of them in the video below.


Check out more videos by Lifesharing here. 

We hope you will join us during DMV Appreciation Week to say thank you for the work that all the staff at the California DMV do each day. Their work is saving lives around the state and country.